President Donald Trump doubled down on controversial plans for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, saying the Palestinian enclave would be “turned over to the United States by Israel” once the war there ends.
The comments in a string of posts on Truth Social followed his proposal for the U.S. to “take over” and “develop” Gaza, which were derided by rivals and even questioned by close allies earlier this week.
Israeli officials did not immediately comment on Trump’s latest comments, though in an interview on Fox News on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s initial proposal.
Asked to comment on Trump’s statements on Thursday, a spokesperson referred NBC News to the Fox News interview.
In his post on Truth Social, Trump suggested that Palestinians could be “resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region,” adding fresh confusion to discrepancies in his stance on the future of Palestinians in Gaza.
Palestinians repair their temporary homes during windy weather in Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, on Thursday.
Trump also said that “no soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!”
It comes after Trump made contradictory comments Tuesday on whether he foresaw Palestinians being able to live in a future Gaza that he described as the “riviera of the Middle East.” He initially suggested that Palestinians could be permanently removed, before adding they would be able to live there, alongside others, after Gaza was rebuilt.
Trump’s proposal to seize control of Gaza and potentially oust the roughly 2.2 million Palestinians who live there has sparked anger, fear and disbelief across the Middle East and around the world, with some officials, analysts and human rights groups saying the plan is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.
The proposal has been widely condemned as dismissing the Palestinian cause — the bid for internationally recognized statehood. And it has also been a painful reminder for Palestinians of the 1948 “Nakba,” when some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes during the creation of Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas rejected Trump’s bid to take over Gaza, saying Palestinian leaders would “not allow any infringement on the rights of our people,” calling the effort a “serious violation of international law.”
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday evening said the president was “committed to rebuilding Gaza and to temporarily relocating” Palestinians during those reconstruction efforts. Leavitt also said Trump had not committed to sending any troops to Gaza as part of his plans.
Israel, along with Egypt, has maintained a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza since since 2007 when Hamas took power two years after Israel withdrew from the territory after a 38-year occupation.
The majority of United Nations member countries recognize Gaza as part of an independent state, though both Israel and the United States do not recognize Palestinian statehood.
In his Truth Social post Thursday, Trump, who gained fame as a real estate mogul and television personality, said the U.S. would work with “great development teams from all over the World” and would “slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth.”
The president also mentioned Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in his post, though it was not clear exactly what he meant by his reference to the Democrat.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
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